Please DO NOT Do These Things To ‘Help’ With Hurricane Harvey [VIDEO]

CBS ran a story last year about the ways people try to help after a disaster has struck that are actually more harm than help. Read it BEFORE you try to help to make sure you really are helping.

Most of us want to help whenever a horrible tragedy like Hurricane Harvey is destroying millions of lives. But there are a lot of ways we shouldn't help. Ways that you might think are helping, but are actually making recovery harder for the people who need it most.

The ONLY thing that will always be accepted and approved for donation to ANY cause is money. Any amount of money is always better than donations of things. But I know that money isn't something all of us have enough of, and sometimes it's the hardest thing for some of us to donate. So we want to donate needed items to help those who are suffering. But what are the needed items? That's where our helping can actually turn into hurting.

Watch this CBS story about ways that you can actually make life worse for the victims of a disaster.

The bottom line is that we all want to help, and the best way to do that is to send cash to a reputable aid foundation. If you don't have money then do some research and find a group that you like and ask what they need. Food banks might be overstocked with food and need physical help sorting instead of more food. Instead of sending bottled water, send money to a water purification group, or offer to help a local group that already has the systems in place.